You Save Me
by stormy.grace
Summary: The sequel to The Preacher's Daughter. After getting rid of the Mark of Cain Dean decides it's the perfect time for a little R&R, but is he really ready for what comes next? Post season 10, slight AU (no Darkness).
1. Chapter 1

**I had so much fun writing this story, y'all! Due to the fact that it takes place after the season ten finale I had to change a few things to make it work. There is no Darkness for two reasons. 1) I just really don't know what to do with that, and 2) I think Sam and Dean are in desperate need of some time off. This is the sequel to "The Preacher's Daughter", and like last time I've already written the whole story (because that seems to work so much better for me) and am going to TRY to post one chapter every day. This one's almost twice as long, thirteen chapters, so yay! And yes, there is a possibility for more in this series depending on how things work out. So, enjoy and please let me know what you think! ~SG**

Chapter 1

It had been a long time since the last time he had been here. About nine years, but the house still looked the same. He assumed, as he pulled up alongside the fence at the side of the road, that it still belonged to the same family, but he really had no way of knowing until he rang the doorbell and saw who answered.

He had only spent a few days here, but they had bonded and, for some reason he still couldn't quite figure out, had continued to grow their friendship through fairly regular phone calls that had earned him a lot of teasing from his brother.

However, he knew for a fact that the last she had heard anything about him was when Sam had come to tell her he was gone after the Hellhound had torn him to pieces. She had known it was coming, which was probably part of why they had become so close, but she certainly hadn't been expecting him to come back from Hell. No one had. And he hadn't exactly let her know he was back either. He could have. He had thought about it, had dialed her number a couple of times only to change his mind before making the call. She was better off without him in her life. Having any kind of relationship with a Winchester turned out to be a death sentence more often than not, and he wasn't about to put her in danger just because he wanted to say hello.

He was only here now because everything seemed to be holding up alright. The Mark was gone, and Rowena was in the wind, seemingly content to stay out of trouble. Neither Cas nor Crowley had been heard from in a while, which was cause for some concern, but Sam was handling it. Jody was still alive, and was doing just fine with Alex and Claire, and all in all the world seemed to be back in order. Sure, there was still your everyday, run of the mill supernatural crap, but there were other hunters that were more than capable of taking care of a few vamps and shifters without him getting involved. He had finally reached a place where it was okay for him to take some time off, and that's exactly what he needed. Time off. Time to heal and get his head back in order after everything he had been through. Time to be a normal person without the weight of the world sitting heavily on his shoulders. Time to catch up with an old friend.

Glancing down at his right arm where the Mark had been to remind himself that it was gone, he took a deep breath and climbed out of the car, filling his lungs with Georgia spring air. He left his bag in the car because even though this was the same house, it may not be the _right_ house, and pushed the gate open, feeling oddly nervous as he walked down the path that led to the front porch. How would she react upon seeing him after assuming he had been dead all this time? Was she even still here? He rang the doorbell and waited for what seemed like forever. Apparently time passed on this porch the same way it did in Hell, because he was almost certain days had gone by before the door opened.

There was a pleasant smile on her face when she opened the door, curious to see who had decided to drop by, but it faded quickly when she saw him and she stared at him in disbelief, not yet willing to believe what she was seeing.

"Dean?" she breathed, looking like she had just come face to face with another ghost.

"Hey Mere." he replied, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He hadn't realized he would be quite this happy to see her.

She shook her head. "This isn't possible. You're...Sam said..."

"I'm real." he assured her as tears formed in her eyes.

Meredith was completely stunned to see him, and the tears she was blinking back as she allowed herself to smile a little, despite her brain telling her this couldn't be true, were tears of joy. "You're back? How?"

"It's a long story." he said, and was caught off guard when she suddenly launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and clinging to him as if her life depended on it. Dean lost his balance for a moment, stumbling a couple of steps back before regaining it, and smiled as he closed his arms around her, reveling in the feeling.

"I'm so happy to see you." she said through tears that had finally won the battle, her words muffled but still perfectly understandable.

"It's good to see you too, Mere." he said, setting her back on her feet. "Can I come in?"

Meredith wiped at her face and laughed at herself for crying. "Yeah. Of course. I can't believe you're here."

"Neither can I." he admitted as he followed her into the familiar living room and sat down on the couch. A vivid memory of her kissing him goodbye suddenly filled his mind, and he wondered if he might be so lucky this time, not that he had come here to get lucky. They had been memorable kisses though.

She stood out in his mind more than any other woman he had ever been with, with the exception of Lisa, of course, and that was saying something since he had been with a lot of women, and he technically hadn't even been _with_ her in the implied sense of the phrase. They had an undeniable connection, but those few kisses they had shared just before he had left had been as far as they had gone.

She brought him a slice of homemade Oreo cream pie, and as she sat down beside him with her own plate he realized that, for all he knew, she could be married with kids by now. He didn't see a ring on her finger, but maybe he shouldn't have dropped back into her life without any warning. Maybe he should have called first. Maybe he should have called as soon as Cas had pulled him out.

%%%

Meredith was shocked at the things he told her. They each had two slices of pie, and he was still going as she got up to put the dishes in the sink. Angles, demons, the Apocalypse, Leviathan, The Mark of Cain, all the deaths he and Sam had had to go through (their own and those of their loved ones). It was all just so much.

"I can see why you need a break." she said once he finally finished, wrapping up with how he had apparently killed Death just before the Queen mother of Hell had come through on her end of the deal to save him. "But what about Sam? Where is he?"

"He's back at the bunker." Dean explained. "Cas and Crowley have been radio silent since that day, and Sam's trying to figure out what happened. He's probably trying to track down Rowena too."

"And how come you're here and not there?" she asked.

"Like you said, I needed a break." he said. "I promised myself a vacation if we ever managed to get rid of the Mark, and Sam wouldn't take no for an answer. Believe me. I tried to stay and help him track down Cas and Crowley, but he practically shoved me out the door and told me to get lost for a while."

"What made you decide to come here? Surely there are better places for Spring Break than Georgia. I mean, the pollen alone is enough to make me want to tuck tail and run."

Dean smiled. "Honestly?"

She nodded.

"I missed you."

She looked taken aback by his answer, like it was the last thing she had expected him to say. Then, just as quickly as it had earlier, her expression changed. Suddenly she looked mad at him.

"What?"

"You were in Hell for four months, Dean." she said, sounding like she was accusing him of something. "Sam came all the way out here to tell me you were dead, and it broke my heart. Do you have any idea how long it took before I was able to stop thinking about what you were going through? One of my best friends was in _Hell_ , and my overactive imagination was coming up with all sorts of things. I cried myself to sleep for _weeks_ because of you, Dean! Don't get me wrong. I'm _so_ happy you're back and that you're in one piece, but I thought you were still in Hell, Dean. For _eight freaking years_ I thought you were being torn apart by demons. Next time you come back from the afterlife pick up a damn phone!"

"Tell me how you really feel."

About halfway through her speech she had jumped up and was now standing over him, glaring at him. She threw her arms out to emphasize her point. "That _is_ how I really feel, Dean! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt, okay?" he shouted back. "I didn't save your life for you to get killed because of me! Everyone I care about dies, Meredith, and then Crowley went on his little rampage trying to kill everyone Sam and I saved. Once we figured out what he was doing all I could think about was that if we didn't stop him you were gonna die because you decided to put your faith in me of all people."

"And you couldn't at least call to warn me that a demon was probably coming after me?" she accused.

"I was scared, okay?" he shot back. "For you. I didn't want to pull you back into this crap unless we had to."

"Well, thank God you didn't have to."

"I'm sorry." was all he could think to say. She was right. He should've called to warn her that her life might be in danger yet again, and he should have called to let her know he was back.

Meredith stood there staring at him for a long time and then finally sighed and said, "I forgive you." before leaving him alone in the living room to go cook dinner.

"You're not married, are you?" he asked as he joined her in the kitchen after giving her a few minutes to cool off.

She was breaking spaghetti noodles into pieces and dropping them in a pot of water on the stove, and she paused to give him a look that was more than enough to ask why he was asking without her uttering one word.

"It's just, you know, it's been a while, and you're not exactly a bad catch." he explained, feeling a little awkward. Did she think he was trying to hit on her? "And your husband might not like me being here. Hell, right now I'm not even sure _you_ like me being here."

She smiled a little and went back to breaking up her pasta. "I'm not married. I'm divorced."

"Oh." Dean said, helping himself to a bar stool at the island. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thanks." she said.

"Mind if I ask what happened?"

"After four years I realized we weren't right." she explained simply. "We loved each other at the beginning, we still loved each other at the end, but I was never in it all the way. It killed me to leave him. I couldn't stand breaking his heart like that, but it wasn't fair to either of us to stay together."

Dean nodded. "I know what that's like."

"You can stay here." She said. "If you want."

"How long?"

She turned and looked at him, meeting his gaze. "However long you need to."


	2. Chapter 2

**I would've posted this chapter a little earlier in the day, but I slept in and then I was suddenly overtaken by a strong urge to bake, so posting had to wait. Anyway, here's chapter two. Hope y'all enjoy, and please review because I do love them so :) ~SG**

Chapter 2

Kim Mitchell would have noticed any car parked in front of her sister's house that didn't belong to Meredith, but most cars she wouldn't give much of a second thought to. Meredith had visitors occasionally. But the fact that the car that was currently parked across the street from her own house was a very familiar black Chevy Impala sent up a red flag and caused warning bells to go off in her head. She had only seen that car twice before. Once about nine years ago when the Winchesters had taken care of their deadly ghost problem, and once nearly a year later when Sam had come alone to tell them that they hadn't been able to find a way out of Dean's deal before it was too late. She was tired from a long day spent working with abused and neglected children and the angry parents that thought it was her fault the state had removed those children, and she wanted nothing more than to relax for a little while after her long drive home in Atlanta traffic before heading across the street for dinner, but the Impala's presence immediately shoved that desire to the back burner. If Sam was here there was a good chance something was going on because he never had time for social visits due to the life he lived. And they hadn't seen or heard from him in nearly a decade, so there had to be a reason he was here. He had to be working a job nearby, and that was definitely cause for alarm.

So, instead of going inside to change and chill out while she waited for her family to return home from work, school, or friends' houses she got out of her car and ran across the street, wanting to know exactly why Sam Winchester was in town and if her family was in danger again.

She let herself in the front door and, knowing her sister would be cooking by now, made her way to the kitchen, where she stopped dead in her tracks and announced her presence with a sufficiently shocked utterance of "Oh. My. God." at the sight of not Sam, but _Dean_ Winchester drinking a beer while chopping up vegetables for whatever Meredith was stirring at the stove.

Both Dean and Meredith turned to look at her and then Dean shifted his attention to Meredith, pointing the knife at her. "You forgot to call your sister."

"Look who's talking." Meredith shot back, tapping a large black plastic spoon on the edge of the pot to knock what Kim dimly registered as homemade tomato sauce back into the pot before setting the spoon on a saucer and smiling excitedly and apologetically at her sister. "Dean's back!"

Kim stared at her sister for a brief moment and then looked at Dean and said the first thing that came to mind in her shocked and confused state. "You're supposed to be in Hell. Why aren't you in Hell?"

"Someone had other plans for me." he said simply. "It's nice to see you too."

"I-I...I don't understand." Kim stammered, walking over and setting her purse on the counter. "How are you here?"

"It's a long story, and I've already explained everything to your sister and got yelled at for letting her go so long thinking I was dead." Dean explained.

"He only spent four months in Hell." Meredith added, shooting Dean an accusatory glance that he didn't see, but felt nonetheless.

"Four months?" Kim repeated, astonished. " _Four months_? You've been alive for eight freaking years and didn't bother to let us know you were okay? What the hell, Dean?"

"That's what I said." Meredith announced as she turned back to the stove and stirred the boiling spaghetti noodles.

" _You_ told me to pick up a damn phone next time." Dean corrected.

Kim stared at him in disbelief. "Does it matter? What the hell happened?"

"Like I said, it's a long story, and I don't want to get into the details twice in once day." Dean said. "But I'm fine. I'm not a ghost. I'm not a demon. I'm not a shapeshifter. I'm not a leviathan."

"Levia-what?"

"Leviathan." Meredith clarified.

"Big-mouthed, scary ass, pre-biblical monster." Dean added.

Kim didn't even know what to say to that.

Meredith turned to face her sister once more. "He'll explain everything later, but none of that matters right now. What matters is that he's back, and he's human. And he's going to be staying here for a while, so we've got to figure out exactly what we're gonna tell Jake and the kids."

"Who's Jake?" Dean asked.

"Our husband." Kim said out of habit. It was a joke that everyone in Bristol Ridge understood, but Dean was completely clueless on.

"Wait...did you just say... _our_ husband?" he asked. "What have you two been up to since I've been gone?"

" _Her_ husband, _my_ ex-husband." Meredith explained.

Dean glanced from one sister to the other while the information sank in and then shook his head. "Okay. That's weird even for me. You married your sister's ex-husband?"

"I just walked into my sister's kitchen and found a man I thought was dead chopping up vegetables for the dinner we're about to serve to my children." Kim reminded him. "Please forgive me for falling in love with my brother-in-law."

"It's still weird."

"You were _dead_!"

"Still weird."

Kim sighed, giving up. "Mere and I never told Jake or the kids the whole truth about what happened."

"And I never told Jake the name of our friend that died." Meredith added.

"So, you're an old family friend that dropped by for a visit." Kim concluded. "I'm gonna go change, and I think I want a beer when I get back."

"You don't drink!" Meredith called after her sister.

"Dean Winchester is in your kitchen!" Kim shouted back.

"You're both taking this surprisingly well." Dean said as he went back to slicing mushrooms for whatever a spaghetti casserole was.

Meredith turned off both eyes and moved to get the colander out of the cabinet. "I'm sorry. Would you like me to fall apart? You already proved to me that you're you. So, how would you like me to act?"

"Oh, you're fine." Dean assured her. "I guess I'm just a little surprised you're letting me stay."

She placed the colander in the sink and dumped the steaming noodles inside to drain the water off. "Dean, I'm _happy_ that you're here. I'm still pissed that you never called, but I'm glad you're alive and okay."

"To be honest, I don't know if I'm okay or not." he admitted. "You don't come out of any one of the crappy things I've been through completely unscathed. I just haven't had time to sit down and figure out exactly how messed up I am."

"Well, you're in one piece, so that's a start." she said, dumping the noodles in the pot with the sauce. "Tonight you're going to get a good meal and a good night's sleep, and we can start figuring out the rest tomorrow. Now, hurry up with those mushrooms."

Dean smiled, liking the fact that she apparently intended to nurse him back to health, and happily finished slicing the rest of the mushrooms.


	3. Chapter 3

**Kind of a filler chapter to catch up on what's happened since Dean has been gone from Bristol Ridge, but important none the less. And for those of you wondering what our new family members look like (aside from the general description given in the chapter) Jake is "played by" Eric Winter, Dylan is "played by" Peyton Meyer, and Maddie (who won't be an integral part of this story, but is important none the less, much like this chapter) is "played by" Sabrina Carpenter. Enjoy! ~SG**

 **P.S. The title for this story came from Kenny Chesney's "You Save Me" because apparently I have this incessant need to tie all of my fics to country music.**

Chapter 3

Things had certainly changed in the Fairchild family since he had been here last. Meredith and Kim both had different hairstyles (Kim's was shorter and darker, Meredith was mostly blonde), Rowan was fourteen now and turning into a beautiful, poised young lady, there were two new members of the family, and they weren't even the Fairchild family anymore. Meredith had kept Jake's name after the divorce, Kim had taken it after she married him, and he had legally adopted Rowan. Now they were the Mitchell family. Most importantly their lives weren't being threatened anymore by someone long dead. They were safe and, by all appearances, happy.

The thing that weirded him out just a little was the fact that he and Jake shared a similar physical appearance. They were about the same size, and both had similar coloring and haircuts. He and Meredith had never let it go farther than close friendship due to his deal and his lifestyle, but Dean knew there had been a connection between them that was more than just friendship. There had been a spark, and had he called after Cas had pulled him out of Hell he was fairly certain that there was at least a chance that spark could have grown into a flame. Based on that he couldn't help but wonder if she simply had a type, or if there had been a more specific reason why the marriage hadn't been right.

Another thing he was curious about was how many times Jake had actually been married. The guy had a very well-mannered sixteen year old son that certainly wasn't Meredith's or Kim's. At least not biologically. Dean wasn't sure if Kim had adopted Dylan or not, but he called her Mom, which lead Dean to believe that he didn't have a good relationship with his biological mother if she had ever been in the picture to begin with. Usually it was the mom that got the kids in a divorce, or if she got knocked up, but Dean knew for a fact that there were other circumstances that could lead a man to single fatherhood. He couldn't help but wonder what the story was here, and he couldn't help but be amused at the fact that Dylan didn't call Meredith by her name or Aunt Mere like Rowan did. Even though she was technically his aunt now she was still Mama, which told Dean that he had been around during Meredith and Jake's marriage, and this wasn't a situation where the kid had recently shown up on the doorstep for whatever reason.

He had also noticed that Rowan's friend, Maddie, the sheriff's daughter from all those years ago, also referred to Meredith and Kim as Aunt Mere and Aunt Kim. She had invited herself to dinner, which was apparently something that happened often, and it occurred to Dean that the Archer family was probably an extended part of the Mitchell family due to the girls' obvious sister-like bond. In a way the pair reminded him of himself and Sam, definitely of Meredith and Kim, and surprisingly enough Dean found himself wishing he could be a part of this family. With the way things had worked out in his life in the past it would be a very welcome change of pace to have an actual house to call home instead of an underground, heavily warded bunker, and a family that extended further than Sam and a frequently MIA angel.

Then again, was it even possible for him to achieve that dream? He didn't need to be reminded of the way things had turned out with Ben and Lisa. If he tried to settle down and be happy with something other than a hunter's life would he just be asking for some monster to come and rip it all away again? Isn't that why he had stayed away from Meredith and Kim for so long? Because he had been afraid that having any connection to him might get them killed or worse? Hadn't that almost happened when Crowley had set out to kill everyone he and Sam had ever saved? Maybe he shouldn't have come at all. Maybe he should've spent a week on some beach getting drunk and lucky and then hightailed it back to the bunker to help Sam track down Cas, Crowley, and Rowena.

"Dean?"

Meredith's voice cut through his thoughts just as he was thinking that this was a huge mistake, and he was instantly pulled back to reality by the feel of her hand on his arm. He blinked a few times as if he had come out of a trance, and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" she asked quietly, obviously trying not to draw any attention to their conversation. "You're being awfully quiet."

Dean smiled softly at her concern. "I'm fine. I'm just tired. Long drive, rough year. Rough life, actually."

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking like she wanted to fix everything that was wrong.

He nodded, grateful that she cared so much, but unwilling to admit that that was exactly what he needed right now. "I just need a little R&R. Give me a few days, and I'll be good as new."

After hearing everything he had been through in his "rough life" Meredith was far from convinced that he only needed a few days to get his head on straight. He had literally been to Hell and back, saved the world and countless lives, lost pretty much everyone he had ever cared about in one way or another, and come very, _very_ close to lobbing Sam's head off just a few months ago. He was never going to be completely over all of that, but if she could get him to stay long enough to shake even some of it she would be happy.

Actually, she would probably be heartbroken. It was going to take much longer than a few days, and Dean wasn't going to stay any longer than he wanted to, no matter what she said or did. He hadn't asked outright, but she knew he had come here looking for help, and she intended to give it to the best of her abilities. But whether she was happy with his progress or not, she knew that as soon as Dean thought he was doing better he would be gone. And even if they did keep in touch she knew there was a slim chance she would ever see him again. It would be a long time between visits at least, and she was uncomfortably aware that this time could end the same as last time, with Sam sitting on her couch telling her his brother was dead. She wasn't sure she could go through that again, but she couldn't ask him to leave either.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the delay, guys! Our internet was out for a couple of days, so I couldn't post, but at least I got some reading done! Hopefully whatever the problem was it's taken care of now, and we can go back to our regularly scheduled daily doses of Deredith. Enjoy! ~SG**

Chapter 4

"How are things going on your end?" Dean asked. He had just finished updating Sam on the changes in Bristol Ridge, and felt he should still be in the loop even if he was on vacation.

"Still nothing." Sam informed him. "Cas isn't answering my calls, and I can't find any sign of him, or Crowley, or Rowena. I've got some other hunters on the look out, but it's like they all just vanished."

"Maybe they did." Dean said. "Rowena wanted Crowley dead, right? Maybe she cast some spell to get rid of him and Cas got caught up in it somehow."

"Okay, but where's Rowena?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to die, and if I ever see her again I'm gonna kill her, and she probably knows that. My guess is that she's keeping a low profile, trying to stay off our radar. Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but I'd feel a lot better if we at least knew where she was so we could keep an eye on her."

"Don't worry, Sammy." Dean said, as he relaxed in the downstairs guest bed, his head pillowed in his hand. "She'll slip up eventually, and we'll take her out. As far as Cas and Crowley? I'm not sure how I feel about Crowley being dead. We kinda knew what to expect with him in charge downstairs. If he's gone we don't know who's gonna take over? Hell could go to...Hell, and we'd have to clean up the mess."

"That's exactly why I want to find him." Sam said. "I'd love to see him dead as much as the next person, but..."

"The devil you know is better than the devil you don't."

"Exactly."

"I'm worried about Cas, though." Dean admitted. "Usually when we don't hear from him for a while something's not right. Has Claire heard anything?"

"I've checked in with her a few times, and she's just as worried as we are." Sam said. "We've tried calling, we've tried praying. Nothing."

"Well, we've gotta find him no matter what." Dean said. "Whether he's dead or not. We need to know what happened, and if he needs saving..."

"Yeah."

"I mean, for all we know Crowley has him locked up in some dungeon somewhere torturing him." Dean continued. "Hell, maybe Rowena has both of them locked up somewhere."

"I don't really know what else to do, Dean." Sam admitted. "I mean, we've tried everything."

"We just have to keep trying." Dean said. "I'll try calling again in the morning. Maybe he'll answer for his favorite."

Dean could practically hear Sam roll his eyes. "Yeah. Maybe."

"Well, I'm wiped, so I'm gonna hit the hay. Let me know if you find anything."

"Yeah, You too."

No good-nights, goodbyes, or I Love You's were exchanged, but that simply wasn't their style. It never had been, and it probably never would be. The Winchesters didn't do chick flick moments. All of that was implied. It didn't need to be said.

Dean hung up and tossed his phone on the nightstand, staring up at the ceiling. "Come on, Cas. Where the hell are you? If you can hear me, give us a sign, man. Something. Anything. Sam and I...we're worried about you. So's Claire. You gotta let us know if you're okay. Okay?"

Dean fell asleep shortly after concluding his prayer to Cas, and Meredith woke up a few hours later to the alarming sound of his screams. It took a few moments for her to realize it wasn't a dream, and then a few more to realize exactly what she was hearing, but as soon as she did she was out of bed in a flash and running the short distance to Dean's room.

Dean was asleep, but he was screaming and thrashing in bed, clearly having one hell of a nightmare, and Meredith's protective instincts took over.

"Dean." she called, sitting on the edge of the bed and trying to shake him awake. "Dean!"

Suddenly he jolted out of the dream, and she quickly realized the mistake she had made in temporarily forgetting that he had been a hunter his whole life because he sat up, wide awake but still terrified of whatever had been going on in the dream, and instinctively tried to protect himself with a knife that had been hidden under his pillow, not realizing it was Meredith he was about to kill.

"Dean!" she screamed, thanking her lucky stars that she had quick reflexes as she managed to catch his wrist just before the sharp blade sliced her throat open. "It's me! It's Meredith."

Realization hit him just as suddenly as waking up had, and his eyes went wide with shock at what he had almost done.

"Put the knife down, Dean." she ordered, her voice amazingly calm.

He did, dropping it in the floor as if it had burned him, and staring at her in horror as she picked it up and carefully set it on the nightstand. He couldn't believe what he had nearly done.

"Oh god. Mere...I'm so sorry." he said, realizing that he was shaking as he spoke.

"It's okay."

"I almost _killed_ you!" he exclaimed. "How is that okay?"

She reached out and took his hand, holding tight when he automatically tried to pull away, and looking him directly in the eye. "Because you _didn't_."

Dean was already embarrassed, but it only got worse when he started crying. "That damn mark."

Meredith wasn't bothered by his tears one bit. Crying was a perfectly understandable reaction given everything he had been through. Even for Dean Winchester. She simply wrapped him in a hug and wasn't surprised when he clung to her like she was the only thing keeping him sane. Her heart broke for him when he buried his head in her shoulder and stopped fighting the tears.

"It's gonna be okay." she assured him, rubbing his back gently. "You're gonna get through this, and I'm happy to help in any way I can. Whatever you need, okay?"

After a while he managed to get the crying under control and ignored his embarrassment as he pulled away from her, wiping his face with his hand. "I don't want you to get hurt. _I_ don't want to hurt you."

"You're not gonna hurt me, Dean." she said, shaking her head. "I trust you."

"You probably shouldn't trust the guy that almost chopped his own brother's head off."

"That wasn't you." Meredith argued. "That was the Mark. Dean, _you_ would never intentionally hurt anyone."

"I'm not so sure of that anymore."

"I am." she said.

"How?" he demanded. "How can you be so sure? I dropped out of your life a long time ago. I've changed, Mere. The things I've done..."

"I don't care. You're still Dean. No matter what you've been through, you're still the good guy."

"How do you know?"

"Because you wouldn't be so upset about nearly taking _my_ head off just now if you weren't." she said. "And you wouldn't be having nightmares if you didn't feel guilty about the things you did when that mark was on your arm. Those things weren't you, Dean."

"You sound like Sam."

"Sam's right."

"I know, but I still did them." Dean said. "That counts for something, doesn't it?"

"Not in my book. I know you, Dean."

"It's been eight years."

"I still know you." she argued, determined to convince him that he wasn't the villain. No matter what he had done. "I can see it in your eyes. You may have changed some over the last decade, but you're still the same Dean Winchester that saved my life."

Dean wasn't quite sure what to say to that. He wasn't quite sure she was right either, but if she was willing to believe in him so strongly who was he to try to prove her wrong? He couldn't promise not to let her down, but maybe she was right. Maybe, with her help, he would be okay.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she crawled over him and made herself comfortable on the other side of the bed, which was a new addition since his last visit.

"I'm staying in here." she said simply.

"What, are you gonna scare away the monsters under my bed?"

She nodded. "Yep."

Dean smiled, feeling more like himself now. "Do I get a goodnight kiss too?"

"Well, you did try to kill me, so..."

He knew she was only teasing, but he still felt incredibly bad about it.

Meredith quickly realized that it was too soon, and made up for it with the kiss he had jokingly requested.

"Oh, come on." Dean complained when she only gave him a quick peck. "I know for a fact you can do better than that."

"Of course I can." she agreed, smirking. "Doesn't mean I'm going to."

"Please?" he said, begging playfully. "It'd help me get my mind off my PTSD."

"Goodnight, Dean."

He pouted. Of course she was the one woman that would say no after willingly climbing into bed with him. But that's part of what made her so appealing. With a sigh, he gave up and settled back into bed. Not that he was really trying to get lucky. Her friendship was much more important to him than sex. But he was definitely still himself on some level at least, and he couldn't resist the glaring opportunity to snuggle with a pretty woman. Especially since she didn't push him away.

He was still worried that she might get hurt in one way or another because of him, but he was starting to think that maybe coming here hadn't been such a bad idea after all.


	5. Chapter 5

**Poor Dean in that last chapter, but maybe not so much in this one.**

 **I decided to give you guys two chapters today since it's been a couple of days since I've been able to post. And I don't know for certain that I'm going to have internet access tomorrow to post, so you might want to save one for later. ~SG**

Chapter 5

Dean had been in Bristol Ridge for two weeks now, and he was officially glad he had come. That first night had been rough, but Meredith had stayed with him until time for her to get up for work the next morning and he had been fine the rest of the day. He had had nightmares that night and the next night, however, and they had quickly learned that he only slept peacefully through the night if she was by his side, so they had moved him into her room and everything had been fine since. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he tried sleeping on his own again, but didn't dare give it a try. He also didn't dare mention it to Sam during the couple of phone calls they had shared to check in with each other. No way was he letting his little brother know that he couldn't sleep by himself. He was sure Sam would understand, but still. It was a little embarrassing. Not that it wasn't nice to share her bed each night and get to snuggle with someone soft and warm that only wanted to take care of him. In fact, it was wonderful.

He had tried calling Cas and Crowley every day to no avail, and even his prayers and summons had gone unanswered, which was really starting to worry him. Of course, he wasn't so much worried about _Crowley_ as he was worried about who might try to take over if the King was truly gone. They had put out feelers in the network of hunters, asking everyone they knew to keep an eye out for any sign of a middle aged Englishman in a suit or a blue eyed man in a trench coat that had a tendency to look a little lost even if he knew exactly where he was. They also had an alert out for any sign of a three hundred year old Scottish woman, but nothing had turned up on any end and Dean simply didn't know what to make of that.

But he was on vacation, and Sam had actually ordered him to try not to think about any of it. Like that was even close to possible. But he was trying. Instead of focusing on the supernatural world he tried his best to focus on the world where he was becoming part of the Mitchell family.

In the two weeks he had been here he had learned that Kim was now a social worker doing her best to help children and families whose circumstances weren't ideal while doing a wonderful job of taking care of her own family. He had also learned that she had indeed adopted Dylan upon marrying Jake, something Meredith had never done though it didn't seem to make one bit of difference. The kid was firmly attached to both women. And he understood why when Meredith had explained the back story to him.

Jake had been a soldier in the Army, stationed in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and had done three tours over the years. His first wife, Carrie, had been a nurse and his high school sweetheart. She had been stationed at a post hospital here in the states and her mother had lived with them to help out with Dylan when Jake was away. One day some deranged idiot with an anti-military mindset had decided to walk into the ER where Carrie was working a double shift and detonate a homemade bomb strapped to his chest in an attempt to make a point. Carrie had been badly injured and had been transferred to another nearby civilian hospital for treatment, but she hadn't made it. Jake had come home for the funeral and then had gone back overseas to finish his tour before retiring and moving back to Bristol Ridge, where he took a job at a local garage and worked his way up to owning the place outright. His mother-in-law had come with him to continue helping with Dylan, and had even lived here in the house while Jake and Meredith had been married. She had stayed after the divorce, and had died last year from an unexpected heart attack.

Jake and Carrie had grown up here in Bristol Ridge and the Fairchild sisters had known them both. Carrie had been one of the few people that didn't pay any attention to the weird rumors about mental illness and suicide that circulated through the town gossip mill.

Meredith had broken down and cried when she had shared all of this with Dean, still hurting over the loss of her friends and possibly still mourning her failed marriage a little, and he had automatically gathered her in his arms and held her until the tears stopped. He hated that anyone had had to go through something like that, and he hated to see her hurting over anything, but he was glad she had told him.

Not only had she revealed that he had more in common with the Mitchell men than a connection to the Mitchell women, but it had made him feel like he was doing something right by being here. If he could help Meredith feel better about even the smallest thing he really didn't care what happened to him.

Now Spring Break had rolled around and everyone had a week off from school, which they were spending at a beach house left to them by the woman that had lived across the street in Jake and Kim's house the last time Dean had been in town.

He remembered meeting the woman that had been in her fifties then, and hadn't been surprised to find out that Meredith and Kim had stepped in to take care of her when she was diagnosed with some lung disease and her own kids couldn't be bothered to do what everyone else felt was their duty. Sadly, the disease had won the battle before a lung transplant could be arranged, and Mrs. Wilkerson had outraged her ungrateful kids by leaving everything she owned to Meredith, Kim, and Rowan, including the house Jake and Kim now lived in, a beach house in Naples, Florida, a 1969 Chevy Camaro convertible that had belonged to her late husband and now belonged to Meredith, a Pomeranian named Fritzy that had since passed on, and a butt load of money that had been amassed over generations.

"Have you heard anything from Sam and Claire?" Meredith asked as she came out the side door and practically skipped down the steps to where Dean had pulled the Impala into the yard.

She had invited Sam, Jody, Claire, and Alex to join them, but only Sam and Claire were coming. Jody was a little short handed in Sioux Falls and couldn't get away, and Alex already had plans with some of her friends.

"Yep." Dean said, taking the bags she handed him and loading them into the trunk with his own. "Plane gets in tomorrow. They're gonna rent a car and meet us at the house."

Meredith smiled, but it quickly faded when she realized he didn't look as happy as he should. She reached out and touched him arm. "What's wrong?"

"I'm worried about Cas." Dean admitted, knowing he didn't have to hide anything from her. "It's not like him to go this long without any calls or even the slightest sign he's still alive. I feel like I should be out there looking for him instead of going on Spring Break with a family that isn't even mine. _Cas_ is my family."

"We're your family too." she said quietly, looking up at him from under her lashes. "If you want us to be."

"I do." he said quickly, immediately wishing he had chosen a different set of words and noting by the look on her face that Meredith had caught the slight irony behind his choice as well. "But Cas..."

"Dean," she said, cutting him off and stepping forward to slip her arms around his waist in a comforting gesture. "You said yourself that no one's turned up any leads. How are you supposed to look for him if you don't know where to start?"

"That's what's bothering me."

"Okay. Well, there's nothing you can do right now except keep calling and praying." she said. "Someone will find something eventually, and then you can go hunt down your angel, but until then please try not to drive yourself crazy over it." She kept one arm around him, but reached up with her other hand and touched his face. "I want you to at least try to have some fun this week. Okay?"

Dean reveled in the feel of her hand on his cheek and her arm around his waist, her body pressed against his ever so lightly. He knew she was only trying to comfort him. She wasn't making a move. She was simply acting within the very lenient boundaries they had unintentionally set for their friendship. Physical contact like this was nothing unusual between them, but there was that spark again and this time Dean couldn't ignore it. He was afraid for a moment that she might pull away, that he was about to tear everything they had built down, but he leaned in and kissed her anyway, needing to take the chance, relieved when her lips met his willingly and her hand slid from his cheek to the back of his neck to pull him in a little closer. That spark was definitely being fanned into a flame.

"I promise I will try my best to have fun this week." he said seriously when they pulled apart, her face still inches away from his.

They were so close she could feel his warm breath on her lips as he spoke quietly, and she had no hope of fighting the smile that spread across her face. "Good."

Y **es, that is Damon Salvatore's Camaro sharing a garage with Baby, and no, Damon wasn't the late Mr. Wilkerson. Meredith is just a lot like me, and I couldn't very well have her and Dean driving around town in matching his and hers Impalas. So she get's my second choice of dream car. I think it suits her. ~SG**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yay! We still have internet! We're about halfway through with this particular story, and I just finished writing the third chapter of the next one. I WILL update Rosewood Falls at some point, but right now I'm too smitten with Deredith. Sorry Daria and Spefan. And Maria. I know you want to know what's going on on the Other Side, but at least you can find out what's going on in Naples, Florida. ~SG**

Chapter 6

The beach house was Mediterranean style, white with brown trim. Palm trees and other tropical plants decorated the property, and there was a fountain off the right front corner of the building and an in-ground pool on the left. The driveway led to a three-car garage, and the backyard was essentially the beach with the Gulf beyond it.

"Wow." Dean said, as he parked in the street out front and turned down the Oldies station Meredith had requested that was currently playing Motown. Not exactly his style, but way better than a lot of the crap they were putting out now.

"Home, sweet vacation home." Meredith said.

"This place is..."

"Yeah."

"Mrs. Wilkerson's kids must hate you."

Meredith smiled, laughing quietly. "I grew up with Mrs. Wilkerson's kids. They never liked me."

Dean looked over at her, a slightly confused look on his face. "How could anyone not like you?"

"I don't know." she said as she pushed open the door. "Maybe that whole insanity/suicide thing? I wasn't exactly one of the popular kids."

"Right." Dean said, having momentarily forgotten somehow that her family was marred by several gruesome deaths.

"And you'll love our room." She said over her shoulder as she led the way directly across the front yard and up the steps to the front door. They were the first to arrive, so she had to unlock the door. "It has a bar."

"Seriously?" Dean asked, his eyebrows raised in interest.

Meredith nodded as she pushed the front door open and stepped in to the foyer, spreading her arms and smiling at him. "Welcome to Casa de Mitchell."

Dean stepped inside and wasn't surprised to find that the interior of the house was just as nice as the outside. "Wow."

"Mrs. Wilkerson had great taste." Meredith said, wandering into the huge living room.

"This is all her stuff?"

She nodded. "The furniture. Most of the pillows and bed stuff is our, and all the knick-knacks and photos and all that stuff is ours. I mean, it's all ours now, but you get the idea."

"The last time I was in a place this nice was when some old rich lady died and left a key to her attic to Bobby." Dean explained. "Which, of course, went to Sam and I since Bobby was already dead. Turned out it was a _Flowers in the Attic_ kind of thing. Lady had an affair with a shifter and locked her daughter away in the attic. When she died the butler let the daughter out and she started killing people."

"So, you and Sam killed her." Meredith guessed easily.

"She didn't give us a choice." Dean said a little defensively.

Meredith turned to look at him, a few feet of space separating them. "You don't have to say that like I'm judging you, Dean. You should know better by now. Saving people, hunting things, the family business. I get it. Why would you think I would expect you to let a dangerous monster live?"

Dean groaned. "You found the books."

Meredith shrugged. "I always wanted to fall in love with a book hero."

Dean started to smile, but did a double take when he realized exactly what she had said. "What?"

"You heard me." she said with a smile as she walked into the kitchen. "We're in the master suite upstairs. Why don't you bring our stuff in, and I'll work on a grocery list."

"Uh...yeah...maybe..." Dean said, suddenly feeling extremely awkward. "Maybe I should bunk with Sam."

Meredith flicked on the kitchen light and turned back to look at him, confusion and then realization and something akin to regret on her face. "Oh, Dean. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to spook you."

Now he was embarrassed that what she had said had spooked him. It's what he wanted, wasn't it? "Did you mean it?"

She _had_ meant it in the literal sense that she really had always wanted to fall in love with a man like the ones she read about in books, but she had said it flippantly, not literally meaning that she had fallen in love with Dean. She shook her head, opening her mouth to assure him that she hadn't let her heart run away with itself, but she realized that wasn't entirely true. But was she actually _in love_ with him? "I...I'm not sure." She looked both surprised and confused as she said it. "Maybe?"

"Okay then." Dean said, not really sure how to handle this situation as he suddenly realized he felt the same way she did. "We might want to figure that out."

"Yeah." she agreed, still stunned at the revelation. How had this snuck up on her? Especially after that kiss they had shared this morning. "Um, okay. Well...yeah. You can stay with Sam if you want."

"I'm just gonna go grab the bags, and we can figure all that out later." Dean said, pointing toward the still open front door.

"Okay." _Well_ _ **that**_ _was awkward_ , she thought as she found a pen and notepad in one of the drawers and began writing down items she knew they would definitely need for the week. Things they wanted could be added later once everyone else arrived, and someone could run to the grocery store. Probably not her and Dean after that little scene.

"You know what." Dean said when he came back in with his hands full of their luggage, having realized that he probably couldn't sleep without her, and didn't really want to.

"What?" Meredith asked, looking up from her list, still a little unnerved by her own murky emotions.

"I've shared a room with Sam pretty much my whole life." he said, setting the bags in the floor. "I'm thirty-six years old, and I'm tired of sharing a room with my little brother."

Meredith smiled. She had grown used to having him beside her when she fell asleep at night and when she woke up in the morning, and she was glad he had changed his mind even if she was currently beyond confused about how she felt about him. "Okay."

Dean walked over to her and reached out to brush her hair away from her face. "Besides, you make a much better dream catcher."

Her smile turned into a grin as he tilted her chin up and leaned down to kiss her.

Dean's phone rang loudly in the quiet room, killing the moment, and she whined a little in protest as he pulled away to check the text that had just come in.

"Whoever that is, they have really sucky timing." she muttered.

Dean smiled at her reaction, silently agreeing as he read the message from Claire. "Sam and Claire are lost. What's the address?"

Meredith took his phone and typed out the address, adding that the house was right on the beach and that the Impala was parked out front. They couldn't miss it. She sent the message and set the phone face down on the counter, reaching up to hook her arms around Dean's neck. "Where were we?"

Dean grinned and pulled her to him. "Best Spring Break ever."

At some point they ended up on the couch and that's where Sam and Claire found them when they let themselves in a little while later as they had been told to do.

Sam cleared his throat, once again killing the moment. The pair broke apart and Dean glared at his brother. Meredith, however, jumped up and excitedly ran over to greet Sam with a hug.

"Hey handsome."

"Hey." Dean barked in protest.

Meredith shot him a smile over her shoulder. "Chill."

Sam chuckled at the exchange and smiled down at Meredith. "Hey. You look great."

She gave her hair a playful toss with her hand. "Why, thank you."

"Back off, Sammy." Dean warned, not so playfully.

Claire rolled her eyes and gave Meredith a little wave to draw her attention. "Hi. I'm Claire. Castiel's vessel's kid."

"It's nice to meet you, Claire." Meredith said, smiling at the blonde teenager. "I'm Meredith."

"Dean's bed buddy." Claire added.

Meredith blushed a little. "Um...yeah. I guess we can call it that."

"Mere, why don't you show Sam and Claire to their rooms, and I'll finish taking care of our stuff?" Dean suggested.

"Yeah." she said. "Let's do that."

 **Dean and Meredith sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...yes, I am very pleased with the direction they've decided to take. Now if only they can keep it going. ~SG**


	7. Chapter 7

**Late night, late post, but at least it's here, right? And I'm not sure if I mentioned this in a previous note or not, but about a week ago our fridge broke down and we've been living out of a cooler. Well, yesterday our new fridge was delivered, and while it's a lovely fridge I've already formed a love hate relationship with it. First of all, I didn't even realize it had arrived until late last night when my grandpa said something about it while I was teaching my granny how to use the video chat on her Facebook messenger to call my uncle, so I kind of feel like our inanimate appliance was silently judging me for not giving him a proper welcome or even noticing him standing quietly in the corner when I was in the kitchen. Of course, being me (aka weird) I apologized for overlooking our new arrival, and I'm not sure how I did because our landlord picked out a the GE version of Sam Winchester. It wasn't much of a difference, but I was taller than our old fridge, and it's still not much of a difference, but the new one is a couple of inches taller than me. And yes, I've already taken to calling him Moose. Anyway, that's enough about my weird relationship with our new refrigerator. I'll let you get to the new chapter now. Enjoy! ~SG**

Chapter 7

"Hey, Mama, can I drive?" Dylan asked as he jogged to catch up with Meredith at the the door after volunteering to go grocery shopping with her. "Mom and Dad wouldn't let me. They stuck me in the back with the girls the whole way down here."

Meredith glanced at the keys in her hand, hesitating before speaking because Dean had given her permission to take the Impala. "Yeah, but we should probably take your mom's car."

Dean couldn't see the boy's face, but there was no mistaking the disappointed slump of his shoulders. He walked over to them and took the keys from Meredith, holding them just out of Dylan's reach. "You a good driver?"

"Yes." Dylan answered quickly, clearly eager for a chance to drive the Impala.

Dean shifted his gaze to Meredith. "Is he?"

"Well, yeah, but he's only had his license for two months." she said hesitantly, knowing how Dean felt about his car.

It could be a huge mistake, but Dean decided to take a chance and make the kid's day. He dropped the keys in Dylan's hand and smiled internally as the sixteen-year-old's face lit up. Outwardly his expression was completely serious. "You hurt my baby, I hurt you. Got it?"

Dylan nodded. "Got it."

Meredith watched her nephew and former stepson dash out of the house and looked up at Dean. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"You said he's a good driver." Dean reminded her.

"Yeah, but he's only sixteen and he's only had his license for two months." she said. "Are you sure you want to trust him with your car?"

"My dad trusted me with Baby when I was Dylan's age."

"You had a lot more responsibility than Dylan does." she reminded him, implying that maybe Dylan wasn't quite as mature as Dean had been at sixteen.

Dean shrugged. "He's a good kid. Besides, if he breaks it I can fix it."

Meredith stared at him in disbelief and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking for fever." she said. "Who are you, and what have you done with Dean Winchester?"

Dean grabbed her wrist, removing her hand from his forehead, and pulled her closer so he could kiss her. "It'll be fine. You're going on a grocery run. What's gonna happen?"

"With a newly licensed driver on unfamiliar streets?"

"He'll be fine." Dean assured her. "Now, go get me pie."

"If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Alright then. We'll be back in a little while." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"So." Sam said, coming to stand beside his brother as Dean shut the front door. "You and Meredith."

"Shut up." Dean said.

"I hate to say I told you so, but..."

Dean pointed a warning at his brother, but couldn't completely hide the smile that lit up his green eyes. "I said shut up, Sammy."

"Hey." Sam said, holding up his hands in defense. "I think it's great. You deserve this."

"Of course I deserve this." Dean said. "After all the crap I've been through? Why wouldn't I deserve this?"

All Sam could do was smile as they walked back to the living room where everyone else was relaxing. He hated to think about loosing his brother in any way, but at least this way Dean would still be alive, and if he was happy wasn't that all that really mattered?

%%%

"So." Dylan said as he carefully navigated the streets of Naples. "You and Dean."

Meredith turned her head to look at the boy that had stolen her heart six years ago, wondering yet again if that was part of the reason she had married Jake. "What about me and Dean?"

Dylan shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I know he's an old family friend and all, but I've never even _heard_ of him until two weeks ago, and this just seems kind of...sudden."

"In a way I guess it is kind of sudden." In the sense that she had thought Dean was dead until two weeks ago. "But I promise you Dean's not going to hurt me."

"What if he leaves?" Dylan asked. "Mom said you haven't even heard from him or his brother in, like, eight years. And now he just shows up on your doorstep without any warning? I mean, I don't really know him, but he doesn't really seem like the kind of guy that stays in one place for a long time."

For a moment Meredith just gazed at him in awe. He was only sixteen, but he was so smart. He always had been, and he had always been so sweet and caring. He wasn't really her son anymore, but she still felt some kind of claim to him, and she was touched that he was so concerned about what might happen to her if Dean left. She wanted to argue that that wasn't going to happen, but she knew better. She knew Dean. Wasn't that something she had asked herself every night since he had arrived? How long was it going to be before she lost him again?

"Mama?"

Dylan's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she smiled at him. "You are a great kid, but you don't need to worry about me like that."

"I just don't want you to get hurt." he said. "I mean, you're my family. You have to protect your family, right?"

No wonder Dean liked Dylan so much. They were just alike.

"Yeah, but Dean's not gonna hurt me." Meredith assured him. "And if he decides he needs to leave, well...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Okay?"

Dylan nodded. "Okay."

She reached out and ruffled his hair a little simply because she knew it annoyed him. "I just love you so much."

"Yeah, I love you too." Dylan said, ducking his head away from her hand while still keeping his eyes on the road. No way was he going to put even the tiniest scratch on this car.

%%%

Meredith usually enjoyed grocery shopping, and she _always_ enjoyed time spent with Dylan, but their conversation in the car had set her on edge. Actually, she realized as she checked over a carton of eggs to make sure none of them were cracked or broken, she had been feeling like this on and off a lot over the last two weeks. And, of course, she knew the reason why. It wasn't just because Dean was back, but because he might leave again. She marked eggs off the list and pushed the cart toward the cheese section, her mind drifting to places it probably shouldn't be.

Like the Winchesters, her entire life had pretty much been one tragedy after another. First her dad had been killed, then her mom had started drowning her heartache in alcohol, then she had drunkenly run off the road and killed herself and Meredith's best friend. Her friend's family still wouldn't have anything to do with her to this day, and that accident had led to the foster homes and being torn away from her siblings. Then, for a little while, things had been good once Jason had gotten them back. And then it had gotten a little rough again when Kim had gotten pregnant and her boyfriend (that neither Jason nor Meredith liked) had run off and left her, but even that wasn't so bad because they were all still together and they had Rowan. Then Jason had been killed, and it had taken a long time for them to heal from that.

As soon as they were starting to move on Hanna had shown up again, which had brought the Winchester brothers into their lives. Meredith had been grateful for that, and still was, because not only had Sam and Dean saved her life and her family, but there was also the close bond that had developed between her and Dean over the phone while the boys were on the road chasing down monsters. But, of course nothing good could really last in her life, and even Dean had been taken away from her.

Enter the tragic and completely unnecessary death of her sweet friend Carrie that had led to her failed marriage with Jake. And while there were so many more good things that had come out of that failed marriage she still felt terrible about the way it had played out, and now she knew why. Actually, she had really always known why, but she had never admitted it to herself until recently, and she couldn't help but wonder if anyone else had caught on to her secret.

She had fallen for Jake because he had reminded her of Dean, and their marriage had fallen apart because he wasn't Dean.

Now Dean was back and things seemed to be going really well. Yes, he was still very damaged after everything he had been through, and he was understandably worried about Cas and Crowley and Rowena, but he was showing some signs of improvement and she was almost one hundred percent certain he was at least on his way to being somewhat happy instead of just content to settle for the hand life had dealt him. And she was happy having him here, helping him, being with him. But she was still waiting for that other shoe to drop. And she knew it would. It was only a matter of time.

Dean was a hunter, and had been for most of his life. Whether it was the life he truly wanted or not, he did enjoy helping people, and she knew he felt it was his duty to hunt down the monsters that plagued the world. He lived to protect people, and she was okay with that. In fact, she loved that about him. That selflessness he had, the ability to put everyone else's safety before his own, and the willingness to risk his own life to save someone he had never known. It was a quality that he shared with Jake, which was part of why she had been attracted to her ex in the first place. But that life wasn't something you could just set aside and move on from, and she was painfully aware of the fact that, no matter how much either of them wanted him to stay, he would inevitably leave.

She told herself as she marked off more items on her list that she could enjoy the time she had with him and deal with whatever happened when it happened, and she could. The problem was not knowing how soon it was going to happen. And when it did happen she didn't know if he would ever come back.

She had known he wouldn't be back the last time, and she had resolved herself to that fact, letting herself get attached because she knew how it was going to end, and she didn't want to waste the time he had left worrying over whether or not it was a good idea to form any kind of relationship with him. But this time...

He wasn't supposed to have come back, and she wasn't sure she could take loosing him again no matter what she had told Dylan earlier. Especially since she was in love with him this time.

As the thought crossed her mind she realized it was true. She _did_ love Dean, and it was going to crush her when he left.

She didn't realize she was crying until she felt Dylan's hand on her shoulder.

"Mama?"

Meredith shook her head, willing away the dark train of thought she had stupidly allowed herself to follow, and wiped away the few tears that had slid silently down her face. "I'm fine."

It was a lie, and they both knew it. She wasn't fine, and love was cruel.

 **Worst grocery run ever. Poor Mere. ~SG**


	8. Chapter 8

**I was planning on posting this later tonight or tomorrow since I still need to go grocery shopping (though I'm not sure I'm emotionally ready for that after that last chapter), but my ride has disappeared, and I have nothing else to do. And I didn't want to wait any longer. Enjoy! ~SG**

Chapter 8

Meredith was tired. She had had a very long day with an early start, a very enjoyable nine hour road trip with Dean, and a rather heartbreaking trip to the grocery store, and she was ready for bed. But when she came out of her spacious, and mostly empty, walk-in closet and saw Dean already in bed, propped against the pillows and reading his dad's journal she realized that she couldn't go to sleep yet.

Tucking her hair behind her ear she walked over to the bed and crawled in, sitting on top of her half of the covers, facing Dean with her legs folded Indian-style. "Why me?"

Dean looked up from the worn journal that he really didn't need to read because he had it pretty much memorized by now, his eyebrows knit in confusion. "What?"

"I get that you needed time off to heal, but why me?" she said. "Why did you chose to drop back into my life?"

Dean was silent for a moment as he closed the book and set it on the nightstand. When he finally looked at her his expression couldn't have been more serious. "When I sold my soul to save Sam I was literally living on borrowed time. And I was okay with that when I summoned that damn crossroads demon, but that was when I thought I was gonna get ten more years like everyone else. I was too determined to get Sam back to realize exactly what I was doing when I let the bitch shortchange me, and once it really sank in that I only had one year left everything changed. I didn't want to go to Hell, Mere. I was _scared._ And if I had thought we could truly find a way to break my deal without Sam getting hurt I would've put everything I had into it. But I didn't think we could. Not really. So I tried to convince myself and Sam that I was okay with it, that I could accept going to Hell for the rest of eternity. But, of course, Sam's like a dog with a bone when it comes to this stuff, and you can't really lie to yourself no matter how hard you try. I was still scared. Plain and simple. And then I met you. And nothing changed. Not really. I was still going to Hell, but for some reason having you on the other end of the line made it less scary. When I was talking to you I wasn't thinking about what was about to happen to me.

"After Sam went into the Cage with Michael and Lucifer I went and found Ben and Lisa like he asked me to because that's what we both thought I wanted." he continued. "And it was a great year. I missed Sam like crazy, but I was happy with Ben and Lisa. I had a family and a home and a normal life even though I still kept a jar of holy water and a gun under the bed just in case. It was the best year of my life, but there was something that never felt quite right and I never could figure out what it was. Maybe it was the fact that I was a hunter playing house, I don't know, but whatever it was it was enough to make it where I couldn't stay with them. I couldn't bear to put them in harm's way.

"And then we went through all of that crap with getting Sam's soul back, and Cas tearing Heaven and Earth apart playing God and then going crazy, and Purgatory, and Leviathan, and Crowley, and Charlie, and Kevin, and the Trials, and the Mark of Cain, and..." he paused for a moment to sigh. "And when it was all over I realized that I didn't just need a vacation. I needed something that could make some of the pain go away. At first I thought I could drown it all in a bottle on a beach somewhere, and I was literally on my way to California to do that when I realized that wasn't going to fix anything. I didn't need some _thing_. I needed some _one._ I needed _you_. Because you are the first person that ever made any of this better. Aside from Sam."

Meredith was crying by the time he finished. What he had said was beautiful and she wanted to tell him that she had figured out what she felt, that she loved him, but she couldn't. That would only make it harder for both of them when he left because he would feel even more guilt about leaving her, and she simply couldn't bring herself to do that to him. Not when he was carrying so much guilt already.

"I..." she stopped herself when she realized she was about to say exactly what she didn't want to say, took a breath, and tried again, forcing the correct words out of her mouth instead. "I'm glad I can help."

Dean thought that was a bit of a lackluster response after he had just poured his heart out to her, but he could see that it wasn't necessarily what she had really wanted to say. He had an idea of what she was keeping inside, of what had prompted her to ask why he had chosen to come back to her, but he certainly wasn't ready to go there and it looked like she wasn't either. She had clearly made up her mind about her feelings, and it was almost glaringly obvious to Dean what those feelings were, but at the moment admitting them would simply be too much. This was not an easy situation by any means, and they had to navigate it carefully or at least one of them would end up with some scars that would probably never heal.

And he knew exactly why she couldn't, or wouldn't, say it. The fear was written plainly on her pretty, tear streaked face. "I can't promise I won't leave."

"I'm not asking you to." she said as another teardrop fell. She moved so that she was sitting beside him with his arm around her and her head on his shoulder, wondering why in the world she had let herself get into this mess. She had known better than to fall in love with Dean, and yet she just hadn't been able to help herself. Stupid heart.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't plan on leaving anytime soon." Dean offered lightly. "Unless you're sick of me."

"I'm not sick of you, Dean." she said. "You're my best friend, and I just don't want to be told that you're dead. Again."

"I can't promise I won't die again either."

"I know."

"I can promise I'll try my best not to."

Meredith smiled. "I'm good with that."

He kissed the top of her head because he could and gave her a hug because he thought it might help. It did, but she was still afraid of losing him. He wasn't ready to admit it, but he was just as afraid as she was. He didn't want to die again. He didn't want to lose someone he loved again. He didn't want to keep walking into dangerous situations because he felt like he had to. There was a part of him that wanted out of the life so bad he could almost taste it, and these last two weeks with Meredith and her family had made it seem possible. But he couldn't help but remember how it had ended with Ben and Lisa, and that made another part of him want to run.

Meredith was losing the battle to stay awake any longer so she went to wash her face and got back in bed to actually go to sleep this time. Dean turned out the light and settled down beside her, slipping his arm around her and snuggling close out of habit. There wouldn't be any nightmares tonight for him because she was there, but what about Meredith? With everything she was feeling he wouldn't be surprised if she was the one that woke up screaming at some point. The part of him that desperately wanted to stay hoped that if that happened he would still be there to take care of her, but the part of him that wanted to run hoped someone else was there to pick up the pieces once he was gone. Maybe he shouldn't have come, but how could he possibly leave?

 **Apparently I'm just having so much fun tearing these two apart emotionally. I'm so mean! But it's so good, right? ~SG**


	9. Chapter 9

**Good morning, my loves! I hope you're all in as good as mood as I am this morning, and if not maybe this will help a little. Enjoy! ~SG**

Chapter 9

Dean jerked awake in the middle of the night, waking Meredith as well since she was just barely asleep. She heard his sharp intake of breath and felt the mattress shift under his weight as he sat up even though there was a good bit of space between them. Thinking he had just come out of another nightmare she rolled onto her back and sat up, reaching for the lamp on her side of the bed.

"Dean, what's wrong?" she asked when she realized he was out of bed and getting dressed.

"It's Cas." he said, hastily pulling his jeans on. "I was right. Rowena's got him and Crowley locked up. I know I said I wasn't leaving anytime soon, but..."

"Go." she said quickly, knowing there was no sense in asking him to slow down as he darted around the room packing his things as he had done in so many motel rooms over the years. "Save your friend. Just _please_ don't get yourself killed."

He realized as he finished packing and sat down on the bed to pull his boots on that she hadn't asked him to come back. Was it because she knew it might not happen, or because she didn't want him to?

"I can't promise you I won't die." he reminded her. "Rowena's powerful, but there's no way in hell I'm leaving Cas there, and we have to figure out what to do with Crowley. But I promise I'll try my best to come back in one piece."

She knew better than to hope he actually would come back.

"Claire." he said suddenly, pausing on his way to the door. "What do we do with Claire?"

"She can stay here." Meredith said. "There's no reason why she shouldn't get to enjoy her vacation. I'll make sure she gets home safe if this takes more than a few days."

"She's not gonna want to stay here." Dean said.

"Then don't tell her you're leaving. I'll handle it in the morning."

Dean nodded, knowing without a doubt that he could trust her to handle a teenage girl that would almost certainly want to follow him and Sam as soon as she found out they had left. Not so long ago she had hated Cas for what had happened to her family, but she had quickly grown to love him once she realized that he wasn't really the bad guy, and she wanted to find him just as badly as Sam and Dean did. But there was no way he was bringing her into this. Meredith might have to lock her in a closet for the rest of the week and carry her home in the trunk of the car she and Sam had rented, but she was _not_ going to get mixed up in this mission. It was bad enough that she had had to watch her mother die. Dean wouldn't let her watch someone else she cared about die too. It wasn't right.

Dean took one more quick glance around to make sure he had everything and left the room, heading down the hall and around the corner to get Sam up. He quickly explained that Cas had managed to get to him in a dream and tell him the few details he had about where Rowena was keeping them, and while he waited for Sam to get dressed and packed up he silently ducked into the room the three teenage girls were sharing next door.

Claire, Rowan, and Maddie were all sound asleep in the moonlit room and Dean walked over to the roll away bed that had been set up for Claire. She looked so peaceful lying there, hopefully having pleasant dreams, and Dean felt a little twinge of guilt about leaving her like this. He knew she was capable of helping, but there was no sense in getting her involved. She was only nineteen and she was still fairly new to this world even though she had grown up knowing her father had been possessed by an angel. She was still learning how to properly defend herself, and even though she never mentioned it Dean knew she was teaching herself how to hunt.

He leaned down and carefully brushed her long, blonde hair away from her face. "You'd better behave for Meredith, kiddo. You're in trouble if you don't."

He placed a brotherly kiss on her forehead and left the room without disturbing anyone or anything. In the morning they would never know he had been in here.

Meredith and Sam were waiting for him in the foyer when he got downstairs. Sam was ready to get in the Impala and go, and Meredith was standing there in her pajamas and bare feet with her hair in a ponytail, looking like she wanted to cry. To her credit she didn't.

"Be safe." she said, hugging Sam. "Both of you."

"We will." Sam promised, and walked out the door.

She turned to Dean, still staying strong against the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I knew you were gonna leave, but I didn't realize it was gonna be so soon."

"I'll be back." he promised.

She shook her head. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep. Just try not to get killed again."

He stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. "I'll be back." he repeated, unable to let himself believe it might not be true. "Take care of Claire."

She nodded, clinging to him for one last moment. "I will."

Dean kissed her, lingering a little longer than he probably should, and then turned and walked out the door.

Meredith stood on the little front porch and watched Sam and Dean climb into the Impala and drive away. Her heart broke and the tears escaped as she ignored the little voice in her head that wanted her to hold on to hope that he might be back. He might, but it wouldn't do her any good to latch on to that idea. He was a hunter, after all, running off to save an angel and a demon from a witch. Nothing about that situation seemed very hopeful.

%%%

Claire was already drifting out of her dream when the Impala pulled away, and she sat up in the dark as she listened to it go, knowing Sam and Dean had caught some kind of case. It must be a pretty big case if they were leaving in the middle of the night like this, and she instinctively knew it had something to do with Castiel. Surely they wouldn't be ditching the only Spring Break vacation they'd probably ever had for anything less. Unless it was something close by, and even then they would probably wait until morning to get started.

She gazed across the room at the bunk beds against the wall where Rowan and Maddie were sleeping, wondering why Sam and Dean hadn't woken her up. _I know why_ , she thought. _They don't want me in the way._

Well, too bad, because if it was Cas she was going. Unless they had an exact address they would probably head back to the bunker, and she doubted they had an exact address. That would be too easy. So, the bunker it was, she decided as she got out of bed and began to get dressed. She packed her things and had the keys to the rented car in her hand as she snuck down the stairs and out the front door, unexpectedly finding Meredith sitting on the porch. She knew it was a slim chance because the woman was clearly standing guard, but she gave it a shot anyway and tried to get around her.

"Stop right there." Meredith ordered quietly when Claire was at the foot of the steps. "You're not going anywhere."

Claire turned back to her. "It's Castiel, isn't it? They found him, didn't they?"

"Rowena's holding Cas and Crowley captive." Meredith said, seeing no reason to lie to the girl. "I don't know how Dean knows."

"Cas probably got to him in a dream." Claire said. "Angels can do that."

"Okay, well you're not going anywhere."

"I'm nineteen. You can't make me stay."

"You're right. I can't make you stay." Meredith agreed. "But you know Sam and Dean wouldn't have left you here if they thought it was safe for you to go."

"It's not safe for _them_ to go!" Claire argued. "I can help!"

"How long have you been hunting, Claire?" Meredith asked.

"I haven't been." Claire admitted. "I mean, I've learned a lot, but I've never really been on a hunt. They let me help find my mom, but that was only because they knew I wouldn't stay put if they left me at the motel. I don't know why they thought I'd stay put now."

"Because they trust you." Meredith said. "I understand that you want to help save Cas, but you've never been on a real hunt before. You don't have the skills or experience that Sam and Dean have. They didn't want to worry about you getting hurt."

Claire knew she was right, but it didn't make her feel any less left out. With a sigh she climbed back up the steps, dropped her bag on the porch, and plopped down beside Meredith. "So, what am I supposed to do while they're gone? Just sit and wait?"

"No. You try not to worry about it too much, you trust that Sam and Dean know what they're doing, and you try to enjoy your vacation."

"Is that what you're gonna do?"

Meredith nodded. "It's what I have to do."

"I don't think I can go back to sleep right now."

"Let's take a walk." Meredith suggested.

Claire nodded and ran her bag back upstairs before following Meredith out the sliding glass door to the lanai and out to the beach beyond the property line where they climbed over the gate that was meant to keep people off the boardwalk after hours and strolled all the way to the end, letting the salty breeze off the ocean calm their wound up nerves. Claire was still worried about Cas and the Winchesters, but at least it was Sam and Dean that were handling the rescue. If anyone could bring Cas home safely it was them.

%%%

"Are you okay?" Sam asked as the Impala sped through the night, headed toward the bunker. He knew Dean desperately wanted to find Cas and make sure he was okay, but there was no way he was okay with leaving Meredith like this. He had seen the way Meredith had looked at his brother less than an hour ago, and he hadn't missed the way Dean had drawn that goodbye kiss out as long as he could, reluctant to leave no matter how worried he was about Cas. And Dean hadn't said one word since they had been on the road. He wasn't exactly the strong silent type, so Sam knew there was something that was making his brother clam up like this, and he knew him well enough that it was obvious that it had to do with leaving Meredith.

"She thinks I'm not coming back."

"She cares about you, Dean, and she knows what we do is dangerous." Sam reasoned. "Of course she'd be worried about you getting hurt or killed."

"It doesn't have anything to do with me getting hurt or killed, Sammy." Dean countered, knowing without a doubt that he was right. "Obviously she's worried about that, but she doesn't think I'm coming back period. She let herself fall in love with me knowing I'd probably take off at some point, and now she thinks I don't love her enough to choose her over hunting."

"Do you?" Sam asked. "Love her enough?"

"Yes." Dean replied firmly, without hesitation. Apparently he had made up his mind as well.

"Then prove her wrong."

Dean smiled to himself, silently deciding to take his brother's advice, turned up AC/DC, and pressed his foot a little harder on the gas pedal.

 **Okay. Does Meredith cry in every chapter? I mean, obviously there's no easy way through any of this, but gussie! Why do I do that? The poor girl must spend a fortune on tissues. Dean's gonna have so much fun when the hormones get involved! ~SG**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"They're not answering any of their phones." Claire announced as Meredith pulled the rented car into the driveway and shut off the engine.

Meredith had explained to everyone else that Dean had gotten a call from a friend that needed help, which was essentially true. Kim hadn't bought it though, and had pulled her aside later to get the whole truth out of her, so she had explained to her sister that Sam and Dean had gone to find Cas. They had been gone the whole rest of the week, and the three occupants of the beach house that knew the truth had worried the entire time because they hadn't heard a single word from either of the boys since they had said goodbye to Meredith that first night.

At the end of the week Claire had decided that she was going home with Meredith because she didn't have to be back at school and she didn't think now was the best time to leave her new friend alone. Jody had been fine with it, promising to call if she heard anything from or about the Winchesters, and there was still a whole two days left before school started back on Monday and Meredith had to go back to teaching. She wouldn't have anything to distract her from worrying about Dean until then, so Claire had decided that she would be that distraction. But now that they couldn't get a hold of either Sam or Dean it looked like there wasn't going to be any distraction for either of them.

"Isn't that normal when they're on a mission?" Meredith asked. "Or a hunt, or whatever this is?"

"I think mission is definitely the right word in this case." Claire replied as she climbed out of the car, trying Castiel's phone just in case and still getting nothing. Not even a voicemail this time. "And yeah, but still. At least one of them checks in with me once a week. No matter what. Something's wrong."

"So, what do we do?" Meredith asked as she unlocked the side door and led Claire into the kitchen.

"Last time I saw them I hid a GPS tracker on the Impala just in case." Claire informed her, pulling the app up on her phone screen. "It should still be there unless they found it. I've got it set to show everywhere Baby's been, and it looks like the last location that was recorded was about ten miles away from the bunker."

"When was that?"

"A few days ago." Claire said. "But the bunker's warded against _everything_ , so the GPS signal won't pick up once you cross the boundary. It looks like they're still there."

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Not for Cas."

"But it means Sam and Dean are more than likely safe, right?"

"Theoretically."

"Claire."

"They haven't left the bunker in three days." Claire explained. "Unless Cas was able to tell them exactly where he is they'd have to do some research and figure it out, which could take a while."

"Three days?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, but they haven't left the bunker _at all_. I think they would've had to make a grocery run or something by now." Claire said, looking up at Meredith. "Something's not right."

"So, what do we do?" Meredith asked again, ready to do whatever it was that Claire suggested.

"We go find them." Claire responded without hesitation. She took a moment to pull up directions on her phone and then continued. "It's about a sixteen hour drive from here to Lebanon. We can be there sometime tomorrow if we leave right now."

Meredith was game. "Okay. But we can't leave right now. We still have to return the car."

"We should probably stock up on a few things too." Claire said. "Just in case. We don't know what we'll find when we get to the bunker, and we'd be stupid to go in unarmed."

Meredith was amazed for a moment that she was having this conversation with a nineteen year old girl, but the moment passed quickly and she spouted off a plan of action without even thinking about it. "Let's get our stuff inside and then take care of the car first. Then we'll repack and get whatever supplies you think we need, and we can head out first thing in the morning."

"You have to be back at work on Monday." Claire reminded her.

"They have substitutes for a reason."

Claire was impressed with how well Meredith was holding together. She had to be an emotional mess right now, but she wasn't showing any signs of falling apart. As Claire followed her back out of the house she decided that Meredith Mitchell would probably make a good hunter if she ever had a reason to become one. And if anything happened to Dean she might just have her reason.

%%%

While Meredith and Claire were trying to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before hitting the road in the morning Sam's midnight vigil was being interrupted by the sound of Dean screaming.

"Dean!" he called as he ran to check on his brother, fearing that Dean might be in some kind of trouble that had somehow slipped by him.

But Dean was simply having the same nightmare again. The one where he made a different decision and used Death's blade to behead the person he loved most instead of turning Death to dust. It was the same dream Meredith had been fending off for two weeks just by being there, and Dean realized, as he woke up in a cold sweat with his brother staring at him like he didn't know what to do, that he had been stupid to think he was cured just because it had been a while since this particular nightmare had attacked him. Of course he wasn't cured. He was simply using Meredith as a shield to hide from the things that scared him.

"Dean?"

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine." Sam argued. "You were screaming. How is that fine?"

"Alright, fine. So, I'm not fine." Dean admitted, agitated. "But there's nothing you can do to fix it, Sammy, so don't look at me like you're waiting for me to ask for help. It ain't gonna happen."

"You never ask for help, Dean. Why should now be any different?"

"Sam."

"No, Dean, I get it." Sam said, annoyed at his brother's constant shows of strength when they both knew better. "You don't _want_ my help. You never want my help. All these years and you still think you're the one that has to take care of everyone. Why can't you just let us take care of you for once?"

"It's not that I don't want your help, Sam." Dean said, sounding calmer. "There's just nothing you can do to help me this time. These nightmares aren't going to go away until I face them, and I haven't had time to do that yet."

"You haven't had time?" Sam repeated incredulously. "What the hell's that supposed to mean? You just spent two weeks in Georgia. Did you just go to make Meredith fall in love with you and then break her heart?"

That was a low blow and they both knew it. Dean didn't bother to remind Sam that he had never set out to make Meredith fall in love with him or that he had no intentions of breaking her heart, but he did correct him because his little brother was so far off base it wasn't even funny.

"I went there to heal, Sam." Dean said roughly, mad at his brother for even insinuating that he had other motives. "I needed a friend, and I needed time off. I thought I was getting better, but clearly I was wrong. And if you ever even suggest anything like that again I swear I'll put my fist through your face. I love that girl, and I would _never_ intentionally do anything to hurt her. You should know me better than that by now, Sammy."

With that Dean left Sam in the room and went to take over his watch. Sam stayed where he was, regretting his choice of words because he knew he had been unfair. He did know his brother better than that, and it had been cruel of him to go there. He thought about going after Dean to apologize, but it was too soon. It was better to let him cool off for a few hours because there was no way he was going to listen to an apology, or anything else out of Sam's mouth, right now.

 **Yay! No tears! I don't know about you guys, but I was kind of getting tired of all that crying Meredith was doing, and I'm sure she was too. I mean, I know I'm the one that wrote it and all, so why am I complaining, but I think I've somehow made her more emotional than me and I didn't think that was possible. Then again, I've never had to deal with what she's dealing with. And yay Dean for actually saying the word 'love'. Did it burn your tongue?**

 **And I hadn't planned for Meredith and Claire to become the next dynamic duo when I started this. In fact, I didn't plan to bring Claire in at all really, but I really like the dynamic that's forming between the two of them. And I can promise you that they make a pretty good team in coming chapters. Feel free to let me know if you'd like to see more of them together. I don't think it'll happen in the next story based on the nature of the plot and the fact that there's another direction I really want to explore, but I for one wouldn't mind a little more Clairedith bonding. The girl could use another good female role model, don't ya think? ~SG**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sam and Dean had used the little information Cas had been able to relay and somehow managed to track Rowena to a foreclosure in Staten Island, which seemed like a really weird place for an evil witch to hide out and torture people, but they had discreetly questioned some of the neighbors and had gotten confirmation that there was a redheaded woman that had been seen coming and going from the house occasionally, though no one had really met her. They all assumed she was in some line of work that required weird hours, and no one had noticed anything out of the ordinary going on, so Sam and Dean had set up surveillance in another empty house across the street until they saw Rowena with their own eyes because they hadn't been able to get inside the house when they had tried. She had some kind of spell on it, but Cas had confirmed through a dream that they were at the right place, but he couldn't be sure if Crowley was inside as well because Rowena was keeping her prisoners in separate rooms.

They had been watching the house round the clock for at least a day and a half, taking turns so they didn't totally crash and burn, and still hadn't seen any sign of Rowena. They also hadn't figured out a way to break whatever spell she had used to lock up the house, and what made it all worse for Dean was that they had had to leave Baby back at the bunker in order to keep Rowena from guessing they were there before they were ready to attack.

"I've found a few possible spells, but we have no way to know which one she used." Sam said, flipping a book shut and letting out a heavy sigh. "What are we gonna do, Dean? We have to get in that house."

"You think I don't know that?" Dean snapped.

Sam raised his eyebrows at his brother's attitude.

"Sorry." Dean apologized. "It's just...I'm worried about Cas. And everything with Mere, and we have no idea what we're doing. This just feel like a lose-lose situation all the way around, Sammy."

"We'll figure something out." Sam said, referring to the parts relevant to the case.

"We always do." Dean agreed, sounding more hopeful than he felt.

%%%

"Well, Baby's here." Claire said as Meredith's Camaro pulled up outside the bunker.

"So, Sam and Dean must be here too, right?" Meredith asked hopefully.

"That would be the obvious conclusion."

"Why do I get the feeling that the obvious conclusion is probably the wrong one?"

"Because it's the Winchesters."

They climbed out of the car, and Meredith took the illegally purchased handgun Claire handed her. Claire unlocked the door and they stepped inside, leading with the guns like a pair of cops. Claire had been taking shooting lessons from Jody since she had moved in, and Meredith had been frequenting a local range ever since the gunshot wound in her shoulder had healed. Both women knew what they were doing, but it didn't make them feel any less nervous about what they were about to find.

The bunker was silent, but that didn't strike either of them as odd. It was a big place and Sam and Dean should be the only ones here. It took a while, even though they split up, but they managed to check every room, including the dungeon, and turned up nothing. When they met back in the main room neither of them had a good feeling about whatever was going on.

"There's no one here." Claire said, disappointed. "What the hell? I'm gonna try calling again."

Meredith's phone rang as if on cue and they both jumped. Both hearts sank when they saw it was Kim and not Dean.

"Hey." Meredith said as Claire moved away a little and began dialing numbers.

"Where are you?" Kim asked.

"We're at the bunker." Meredith replied. "No sign of Sam or Dean, but the Impala's parked out front. Claire's trying their phones again right now."

"What are you gonna do if they don't answer?"

Meredith looked around the huge room, easily picturing the Winchesters researching lore and spells at the table. "I guess we try to figure out where they went. Or where they were taken."

"You think someone...or some _thing_... _took_ them?" Kim asked, her voice hushed as if she didn't want anyone to overhear her end of the conversation. "You think someone broke into a bunker that no one's supposed to be able to find and kidnapped Sam and Dean? What?"

"Rowena?" Meredith suggested. "I don't know. Anything could've done it. It's not like they don't have any enemies, Kim."

"So, you're gonna figure out what happened...maybe, and then what?"

"And then we go find them."

"No!" Kim practically hissed. "Meredith, you can't. You don't know anything about this stuff. You can't just walk into whatever this is and...and...you could get yourself _killed_ , Mere."

"Nothing." Claire said, tossing her phone on the table with a huff.

Meredith nodded to let her know she had heard and continued arguing with her sister. "I don't have any choice, Kim. It's Dean. I have to know if he's okay. What would you do if it were Jake?"

"I..." Kim started, and realized that her sister had a point. "Just...be careful. Okay?"

"Of course I'll be careful." Meredith promised. "But I've gotta go, Kim. We have a lot of work to do."

"Okay. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do on my end."

"Keep calling, and let me know if you hear anything." Meredith said.

Kim promised she would and Meredith hung up the phone, turning to Claire. "Where do we start?"

"I have no idea." Claire admitted.

%%%

"Son of a bitch."

"What?" Sam asked, looking up from yet another book.

"I've got about five hundred missed calls from Meredith, Kim, and Claire." Dean said.

Sam, who had almost completely forgotten he even had a phone, checked his and found a similar amount of missed calls. They both had several messages from three worried women, and Sam decided to let Dean handle the situation while he continued to watch for any sign of Rowena.

%%%

Meredith and Claire had just started going through papers, looking for some clue as to what had happened to Sam and Dean and/or where they were when Meredith's phone rang.

She pounced on it like a starving man on a steak, and was relieved to see that it was Dean. "Dean?"

Claire's head shot up. "Dean? Is he okay? Where are they?"

"Hey." Dean said, sounding perfectly calm, but apologetic as well. "Sorry I missed your calls. We've been a little busy."

"Where are you?"

"Not where you'd expect to find a three hundred year old wicked witch." Dean said. "But we're fine. We're staked out in a house in Staten Island."

"Staten Island?" Meredith repeated in confusion.

"Yeah. I thought the same thing." Dean said. "We found Cas, but we can't get into the house, so we're trying to figure that out while we wait for Rowena to show. Where are you?"

Meredith was pretty sure he was asking because he was worried she had done something stupid. "Claire and I are at the bunker." she said honestly.

"You were supposed to stay at the beach house." Dean reprimanded.

"We did, but when we got home and still hadn't heard anything from either of you we couldn't just sit around and wait." she argued. "You'd better be glad you called when you did because we were in the process of trying to track you down. You can't just drop off the grid like that and think no one's going to worry about you, Dean!"

"I know. I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"Look, Mere, just...you and Claire head home and stay put." Dean said. "Okay? Sam and I got this under control. Hopefully we'll be back soon."

"You just said that you can't get into the house!"

"Yeah, well, you two don't need to get involved, okay?"

"Dean."

"No, Mere!" he said firmly. "You go home, and you stay put. I can't keep you safe if you run headlong into trouble."

"And what about you?" she demanded. "You've spent your entire life running headlong into trouble, Dean! Why can't you just let someone help you for a change?"

"Because you don't know anything about hunting, and I can't protect you, fight Rowena, and save Cas all at the same time."

"Why do you have to be the one to protect me, fight Rowena, and save Cas?" she countered. "Why does everything always have to fall on your shoulders, Dean? Do you even plan on letting Sam do anything, or are you gonna tie him to a chair and go in by yourself?"

"That's not fair."

"You can't save everyone, Dean. You can't do everything. Not all on your own. You have to let someone help at some point."

"If I catch you or Claire anywhere near Staten Island before this is done I'm gonna tie the both of you to chairs, and lock you in the dungeon." Dean warned. "Got it?"

"Yeah." Meredith spat. "I got it."

She hung up without saying goodbye and forced herself not to throw the phone across the room.

"They're okay?" Claire asked, having pieced together the gist of the conversation based on Meredith's end.

"Yeah." Meredith said, and grabbed her bag, heading for the stairs. "Dean ordered us to go home and stay put."

"So, where are we going?" Claire asked, smart enough to know that home was the last place they were going.

"Staten Island."

 **Don't ask why I chose Staten Island because I have no idea. And I promise the chapters in the next story will be a lot longer than these. So far they're all about five pages where these are all about two or three. And there's only two of these left, so unfortunately you'll have a bit of a hiatus while I finish up Just A Dream. I've already got an idea for story #4 too, and maybe eventually I might be able to do something more with Rosewood Falls. I'm afraid I've simply grown bored with it at the moment. Dean and Meredith are so much more exciting for me right now. Especially since I'm pretty much in love with Dean. Literally. Anyway, I'll see you guys back tomorrow for another chapter. I think it's a bit longer and definitely more action packed. ~SG**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"This is probably the stupidest idea we've ever had." Sam grumbled as he followed Dean up Rowena's front yard in the dead of night.

"It's not any worse than you saying yes to Lucifer or me taking the Mark of Cain." Dean reminded him. "Or any of the other dumb ass ideas we've come up with. They all worked out just fine. Think positive, Sammy."

"Dean, I came back from Hell without a soul, and you became a demon."

"So we took the long way around to working out just fine. We'll get there this time too."

Sam hoped his brother was right as they stepped up onto the front porch and Dean rang the doorbell.

Rowena was upstairs taking far too much pleasure in slicing the tip of a poisoned angle blade across Cas' bare chest, knowing that whoever was at the door couldn't hear his screams due to the protection spell she had placed on the house. But her son could in a room down the hall, and she hoped it was driving him crazy wondering when she would come back to finish him off.

"Now, who could that be at this late hour?" she asked, feigning curiosity. She already knew who it was. "Perhaps your precious Winchesters have finally come to rescue you. Now won't that be a sweet reunion?"

She swiped the blade across her prisoner's cheek and took it with her when she left the room, closing and locking the door behind her.

She was a little surprised when Dean shot her in the heart as soon as she opened the front door.

She laughed. "Oh, you didn't really think you could kill me with a bullet, did you?"

"No." Dean said. "But we were pretty sure we could paralyze you with it."

Somehow Sam had managed to uncover a spell that would allow them to paralyze any witch, supposedly breaking whatever spells she had cast in the process, and Rowena was clearly surprised when she discovered that it was working. Slowly, but surely, the poison in the bullet Dean had just fired into her heart was being pumped through her bloodstream, and she suddenly found that she couldn't move. Once the poison had spread throughout her entire body she collapsed in the floor and the Winchesters stepped over the threshold, no longer locked out by her magic.

Sam scooped Rowena's prone form off the floor and carried her into the dining room where he and Dean made sure she was secured by tying her tightly to a chair, before Dean went off to search the house, leaving Sam to keep an eye on the witch.

Dean searched the entire main floor of the house and then the basement, and turned up nothing. But he knew Cas was here. It was like the angle was somehow calling out to him in some non-vocal way, and he could practically feel his presence.

"Cas?" he called upon reaching the top of the stairs. Unless his friend was locked in the attic he had to be behind one of these doors.

The first one was clearly the master suite, which Rowena had claimed for herself and decorated lavishly. Dean had no desire to go through her things or be in her room, but he checked anyway to make sure there were no signs of Cas or Crowley in the rooms. Shivering in slight disgust as he stepped back into the hallway, he tried the next door and found a linen closet full of exactly what you'd expect to find in a linen closet. It seemed weird to him that she would stock her torture house with fresh sheets and pillow cases, but he didn't dwell on it for very long.

There were three other bedrooms and two full bathrooms on this floor and the bathrooms obviously turned up nothing. Once he broke the first door down he was appalled to find that the house apparently wasn't a foreclosure as they had originally thought. The family that had recently moved in was locked up in this bedroom, and the four kids were already dead, drained of blood as if a vampire had attacked them. But there were no bite marks, and Dean knew exactly what had happened. Rowena had siphoned their blood and probably used it on Crowley, leaving these poor people locked up and terrified in a bedroom with the bodies of their murdered children. That bitch was going to pay for this.

"I promise I'll come back for you." Dean assured the bound and gagged couple. "But it's not safe yet, so just hang in there a little longer. Okay?"

The husband and wife nodded, their eyes huge with fear, and huddled closer together.

Dean, suddenly filled with rage, left the room and slammed his body against the door across the hallway. It gave in easily, revealing Crowley tied to a chair with one eye swollen completely shut and his face beaten and bloody. He jolted in fear as the door came crashing down and managed to tip the chair over, letting out a strangled scream, muffled by the gag in his mouth, as he hit the floor.

"Chill." Dean said. "It's me."

The King of Hell began to fire off a series of garbled words that Dean couldn't understand, and he quickly untied the gag.

"Squirrel." Crowley gasped. "Thank god."

"Where's Cas?" Dean demanded, not really caring if Crowley was okay or not.

"How the bloody hell should I know? All I know is that he's still able to scream."

Dean left Crowley in the floor, still tied to the chair, and abandoned the room to find his friend.

"Aren't you going to untie me?" Crowley hollered after him.

Dean ignored him and charged at the final locked door. It took three tries to break this one, but it was worth the pain and whatever injuries he had just given himself because there was Cas, gagged like everyone else had been and chained to the ceiling. It broke Dean's heart to see him this way. He was cut and bruised and bloody. His head hung down and it was clear that he didn't even have the strength to stand up. It looked like the weight of his body was about to dislocate both shoulders, and Dean rushed forward to lift him up.

"Dean." he managed to croak out.

"You can thank me later, Cas." Dean said, awkwardly holding his friend up while he somehow managed to pick the lock on the cuffs Rowena had him in. "Let's get you out of here."

The cuffs had cut into Cas' wrists, leaving ugly gashes, and the poor guy would've collapsed in the floor had Dean not been there to support him. He knew he had to get those people out of here and figure out what to do with Crowley, but Cas was more important to him, and he struggled under the angel's weight as he helped him drag his beaten and broken body toward the stairs. He could only get one person out at a time, and Cas just happened to be first.

"Sam!" he called out as he realized he wasn't going to be able to get Cas down the stairs by himself. "A little help here!"

But instead of Sam appearing at the foot of the stairs it was Rowena. Somehow she had shaken the paralytic poison and broken free. Dean didn't even have time to process this before she flung her hands out and sent both Dean and Cas flying backward, crashing painfully into a wall and then sliding to the floor.

"Cas!" Dean yelled, immediately moving to check on his friend.

"Go." Cas croaked. "Kill her."

Dean didn't need any encouragement. He struggled to his feet and charged down the stairs, intending to tackle the redheaded witch, but she sent him flying off to the side, crashing through another wall, and then the dining room table. He managed to note Sam's seemingly lifeless body lying on the floor a few feet away and fought to get back up. They had a weapon that would kill her if only he could get to it, but she was currently using her magic to choke the life out of him from ten feet away and Dean couldn't do anything but gasp for air and struggle under the weight of the spell that was holding him down.

"I'm really glad you and your brother showed up tonight, Dean." Rowena said, sounding almost sweet. "It gives me a chance to kill all of you at one time, and I can finally be rid of you pesky Winchesters, your pet angel, and that infuriatingly spineless son of mine. I've had so much fun torturing them, but I've grown bored with my toys, and I think now is the perfect time to put an end to this particular game. I think I'll start with you."

"I don't think so, bitch."

It must be the lack of oxygen to his brain, but Dean could've sworn the voice he had just heard belonged to Meredith.

Rowena spun around to see who the new arrival was, continuing to choke Dean, and was surprised when the unfamiliar woman shoved the poisoned angle blade through her stomach. She gasped and then laughed.

"You're going to have to do better than that, sweetheart."

"How about this?" another unfamiliar female voice asked, and Rowena felt something else pierce her back.

Dean watched in amazement as Claire rammed the stake he and Sam had soaked in the witch-killing potion through Rowena's heart. The witch screamed and reached out a hand in an attempt to wrap her fingers around Meredith's throat as she was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. She didn't have time to even make contact with the other woman before she turned into a statue of ash and crumbled to the floor, leaving Meredith and Claire staring at each other with their respective weapons in their hands.

They stayed that way for a moment longer, stunned at the fact that they had actually succeeded in killing the witch and then ran into the dining room to make sure Sam and Dean were still alive.

"I told...you..." Dean tried to choke out a reprimand, but couldn't find the breath to speak properly.

"To go home, and stay put." Meredith finished for him. "Did you really think we would?"

"And aren't you glad we didn't?" Claire added, checking Sam's neck for a pulse. "She only knocked him out. Where's Cas?"

"Up..." Dean said, but couldn't get 'stairs' out.

Claire, however, was smart enough to figure out what 'up' meant and abandoned Sam once she knew he was still alive to go make sure Cas wasn't in any kind of mortal danger.

Dean tried to sit up, but Meredith held him down with a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Just try to catch your breath for a minute before you try to save anyone else. Sam's fine, and Claire and I can get you all to a hospital. Let me help you, Dean."

Dean gave up fighting and relaxed as much as he could for someone that had been hurled through a wall and was lying on the shards of a broken wood table.

He took a few breaths and then spoke again. "There's a...family...up...kids are...dead...husband..."

"We'll take care of it." she promised.

%%%

In the end they had swept up what was left of Rowena and called the police. The Winchesters, Cas, Crowley, and the homeowners were all rushed to the hospital while Meredith and Claire lied to the police about what had happened. Neither of them faltered in their story once, though they both put on a good show of being shaken up over the fight since they were, and Meredith was surprised at how easy it was for her to lie to the police. It was the second time she had had to do it because of her involvement with the Winchesters and the supernatural world, and she couldn't help but wonder, as she slipped a comforting arm around Claire's shoulders and they were escorted out of the house by an officer, if it was something she was going to have to get used to if Dean continued to be part of her life. It wasn't something she liked doing.

 **Okay, so this chapter wasn't as long as I thought it was, but there was some action in it. If I didn't have more domestic plans for these characters I would so send Meredith and Claire out on the road to hunt. Worry all you want, Dean, but your girl can hold her own. Now, who's ready for the ending tomorrow? ~SG**


	13. Chapter 13

**Feel free to listen to a little Kansas before reading this last chapter.**

Chapter 13

"Hey handsome." Meredith said, smiling softly when Dean finally opened his eyes the next afternoon. "No, lie back down." she cautioned when he tried to get up.

"How bad is it?" he asked as the pain washed away the smile on his face.

"Dislocated shoulder, broken arm, sprained ankle, and minor cuts and bruises." she listed.

"I've been...worse." he said. "Ow."

"Yeah." Meredith said, eyeing the bruises on his neck that looked like someone had wrapped their hands around his throat and squeezed as hard as they could. "Try not to talk. She nearly crushed you trachea."

"Sam?"

"Concussion, black eye, minor bruising." Meredith said. "He'll be fine."

"Cas?"

"He's not healing as quickly as he should." she admitted. "She poisoned him with something, but they can't figure out what it is. He had several cuts that required stitches, they said he's dehydrated and a little malnourished, a couple of broken ribs, bruised all over, gashes on his wrists from the cuffs, a pair of black eyes. Claire's working on a way to get him out of here before he starts healing completely and freaks out his doctors."

"What if...?"

She shook her head to silence him, knowing what he was going to ask. What if Cas didn't start to heal? What if whatever Rowena poisoned him with had made it so that he couldn't.

"We'll figure it out." she assured him.

Dean nodded, regretting the choice because the movement hurt his neck. "Crowley?"

"Beaten, broken, hopped up on pain meds, and I'm guessing back on human blood thanks to Mommy Dearest."

"Good." Dean said. "Let him..suffer...a little."

"They're probably gonna let Sam go today since his injuries are pretty minor, but they want to keep you and Cas for a while." Meredith said, trying hard not to cry. "Claire and I have a room, and we're gonna figure out how to get Cas out of here as soon as we can, but I want you to stay."

"Can't."

"Dean, please." she begged. "You're hurt. You need rest. Let the doctors and nurses help you."

He wanted to argue, but the fact that it hurt to speak made it difficult, and the pleading look in those chocolate doe eyes of hers made it impossible. With a sigh he reached out his good hand, seeking hers, and smiled once he had it. "Fine. Kiss?"

Meredith laughed despite the fact that she wanted to cry, amused and relieved at the same time, and granted his request. "You're welcome."

"Thanks." he said. "How long...?"

He trailed off, but, again, Meredith had no trouble figuring out what he was asking. He wanted to know how long he was going to have to stay cooped up in a hospital room.

"It's probably going to take a few months before you're back to one hundred percent, but they want to keep you for a few more days to make sure there aren't any problems with your airways or anything they might have missed."

With the exception of a nearly crushed trachea (amazingly) Dean had experienced all of his injuries before and knew the doctors would recommend he be in slings, casts, and/or on crutches for about three months. He wasn't happy with that idea at all, but he knew Meredith wasn't going to let him leave the hospital until the doctors were sure Rowena hadn't done any life threatening damage, and he was in no shape to fight her on it. He wasn't in the mood to fight her either. He already knew she was stubborn, and now he had seen her hold her own against two deadly supernatural women and come out relatively unscathed. Rowena hadn't even had a chance to try to fight back once Meredith and Claire had showed up. He wasn't about to put up a fight when he wasn't at his best. He didn't want to stay in the hospital, but he would.

"Will you...stay?"

"I really should get back." she said, noting his obvious disappointment. "I've already missed a few days of school, but if you want me to stay, I'll stay. I hardly ever miss a day, and they understand that it's a family emergency."

"Stay." Dean said.

Meredith smiled at him. "Of course. But what are you gonna do when you get out of here? You'll probably still need some help."

"Home." He hated that he was reduced to one-word answers, and could easily predict what her next question would be. He wished he couldn't give a better explanation so she wouldn't have to ask.

"Kansas?"

"You." he corrected, and even though it hurt to speak he had to get these next words out. They were probably the most important words he had ever spoken in his entire life, and he wasn't going to let Rowena rob him of this moment. "You're...home. I..." he paused for a moment, and then amazingly managed to utter one whole, if short, complete sentence. "I love you."

Meredith felt the tears begin to fall as Dean squeezed her hand. For a moment she couldn't speak. She was too overjoyed at the meaning of his words. He wasn't leaving her. He loved her.

She smiled when he let go of her hand and held his arm out in an invitation to snuggle. It was awkward with her sitting in a chair like she was so she moved to the edge of the bed and gave him another kiss before lying down at a weird angle and letting him hold her with his one good arm. "I love you too, Dean."

 **Okay. I feel so bad when I edit these chapters and realize how short they are! I swear they feel much longer when I'm writing them, and I promise the next one will have longer chapters. It's still currently titled "Just a Dream", and I think I'm getting close to having it finished so maybe it won't be a long wait for more Deredith feels! Anyway, I hope y'all enjoyed this last chapter, and let's all hope that Dean follows the doctors orders this time because I think he'll be in trouble if he doesn't. And as much as I'd love to write a scene where Meredith is chasing him around the house, yelling at him for doing something stupid I think it should probably wait until he's regained full mobility. Thank you guys so much for all the reviews, follows, favorites, etc., and like I said, hopefully it won't take me too much longer to get the next adventure ready for you! In the meantime go check out ArtistKurai's wonderful story "Beautiful Soldier". It's so good! ~SG**


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